Pema Chödrön refers to many of her teachers and friends in her latest book Welcoming the Unwelcome. For fans of Ani Pema who might be less familiar with some of these figures but want to hear more from her main inspirations, teachers, and role models, this is for you! For those who listened to the [...]

Jigme Lingpa A Guide to His Works Learn More A guide to the works available in English from Jigme Lingpa, the founder of the Longchen Nyintik tradition and a central figure in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. See Also: Some Nyingma Lineages: Dudjom Tersar | Longchen Nyingtig | Namcho & Palyul Guides to Other [...]

Buddha Nature Read More In the eleventh century, the great Tibetan scholar-practitioner Gampopa (1079–1153) began his composition known as The Jewel Ornament of Liberation with an exposition on the cause for awakening. What is the cause for awakening? In the Vajrayana and third turning traditions of Buddhism it is buddha nature. Buddha nature is our [...]

The Six Paramitas Learn More The Six Paramitas, or "Perfections," are a fundamental set of teachings for Mahayahana Buddhism Statue of Bodhisattva Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) The six paramitas, or transcendent perfections, are an essential concept in the practice of Mahayana Buddhism. They are so fundamental in fact that the “Vehicle of the Perfections” is a [...]

The Teacher-Student Relationship Learn More To truly understand Tibetan Buddhism, one must come to grips with the unique role of the teacher, the dynamics of the teacher-student relationship, and the possibilities that having a teacher can open up. To truly understand Tibetan Buddhism, one must come to grips with the unique role of the teacher, [...]

One of the Five Maitreya Treatises—the five texts imparted to Asanga by the bodhisattva Maitreya—the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras (in Sankrit the Mahayanasutralamkara, often shortened to Sutralamkara) presents explanations of bodhisattva motivation, meditation, conduct, and fruition as expounded in the Mahayana sutras as well as demonstrating the superiority of the Mahayana.  In English, the [...]

A Short Biography of Kathog Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, also known as Khenpo Ngaga and Khenpo Ngakchung (1879–1941) Excerpted from The Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, also known as Osel Rinchen Nyingpo Pema Lendrel Tsel and popularly called Khenpo Ngakchung or Ngaga, is a re­markable example of a particular kind [...]

The Seven-Line prayer to Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, is one of the most ubiquitous and important prayers, performed across lineages and in particular the Nyingma tradition who commence nearly every practice with it.  What follows is a brief introduction and Reader’s Guide to this short but extremely profound verse. The Padmakra Translation Group has provided some [...]

Prologue Homage to you, O glorious Samantabhadra! Your nature is the ultimate expanse, Primordial and perfect peace. Though free of all conceptual constructs, It is yet embellished by the kāyas and the wisdoms Present of themselves. From this there radiates a myriad rays of light Performing every kind of action In the field of those [...]

We have excerpted the chapter “Impermanence” from Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind: The Trilogy of Rest, Volume 1 here. Written in the fourteenth century, this text is the first volume of Longchenpa’s Trilogy of Rest, a work of the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. This profound and comprehensive presentation of the Buddhist view and path combines [...]